Course details

  • Study time: 6h

  • Target audience: Bachelor/Master students/Industry/academia representatives in the field of (Bio)chemical engineering, chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology.

Course curriculum

  • 1

    Welcome

    • Welcome video

    • Meet the teachers

    • Learning objectives

    • What do you want to learn?

    • Have a look at what other students want to learn

    • Present yourself to your classmates

    • Become familiar with the learning platform

    • Good practices to use this learning platform

    • How to obtain your course certificate
  • 2

    Introduction to sustainable design

    • Intro video

    • Tracking progress towards sustainable outcomes

    • Exercise: Tracking progress towards sustainable outcomes

    • Defining the design problem and engineering tools

    • Quiz - Defining the design problem and engineering tools

    • Quiz - Quantitative sustainable design (QSD) framework

    • Quantitative sustainable design (QSD) framework

    • Benefits of the QSD framework

    • Back to our AnMBR example

    • Quiz - Benefits of the QSD framework

    • Quiz - Back to our AnMBR example

    • Reading assignment: Sustainable design of anaerobic membrane bioreactors (AnMBR)

    • Test your knowledge

    • Conclusion video
  • 3

    Life cycle assessment in sustainable design

    • Intro video

    • Video: Phase 1 - Goal and scope definition

    • Video: Phase 2 - Inventory analysis

    • Video: Phase 3 - Impact assessment

    • Video: Phase 4 - Interpretation

    • Video: Implication of design and operational decisions

    • Reading: Life cycle and systems thinking

    • Conclusion video

    • Additional LCA resource
  • 4

    Navigating the design space

    • Video: design challenge

    • Introduction to struvite recovery process

    • Key concepts in quantitative sustainable design

    • Test your knowledge: decision variables

    • Test your knowledge: choosing indicators

    • Video: decision variables and indicators

    • Exercise: matching sustainability indicators

    • Video: introduction to struvite recovery model

    • Test your knowledge: struvite recovery model

    • Video: exploring the main tab of the model

    • Test your knowledge: model parameters

    • Video: testing possible designs

    • Test your knowledge: model outcomes

    • Test your knowledge: model exploration

    • Discussion: evaluating impacts of decision variables

    • Exploring the design space

    • Test your knowledge: exploring the design space

    • Discussion: recommending design alternatives

    • Video: navigating trade-offs

    • Test your knowledge: navigating trade-offs

    • Alternative decision-making criteria

    • Test your knowledge: alternative decision-making criteria

    • Discussion: alternative decision-making criteria

    • Video: summary and synthesis

    • Exercise: reviewing terms and definitions

    • Discussion: Synthesis reflection on process
  • 5

    Conclusion

    • Conclusion video

    • What did you learn?

    • Read what others learned

    • Help us to improve this course

    • Further reading

    • Thanks to our sponsors

Instructor(s)

Associate Professor

Jeremy Guest

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Acting Associate Director for Research Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Assistant Professor

Diana Byrne

Assistant Professor Department of Civil Engineering, University of Kentucky Sustainable and Humanitarian Engineering

Deputy Director of Research

John Trimmer

Deputy Director of Research, The Aquaya Institute